Meetings and Field Trips Archive
Each of these events were huge successes, thanks to our great members!
2019 Geological Society of Connecticut Annual Meeting
The 11th annual meeting of the Geological Society of Connecticut was held Friday, November 15, at Heritage Hotel (https://www.heritagesouthbury.com) in Southbury, CT.
              
Along with a cocktail hour (cash bar), catered dinner, and lecture by William C. Burton, USGS Research Geologist, entitled Tempest in a teapot:  how a small area in the western highlands reflects the wondrous complexity of Connecticut geology, an annual business meeting, and announce election results for the GSC Board of Directors.

2018 Geological Society of Connecticut Annual Meeting

The 2018 annual meeting was held on November 9th 2018 at Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut. The meeting started off with a social hour where old and new members had a chance to meet and  buy raffle tickets to support the Society’s Student Research Fund. After a welcome from our hosts Dr. Christoph Geiss and Dr. Tim Cresswell, Dean of the Faculty, we enjoyed dinner and learned about last year’s society happenings during the business meeting. The Joe Webb Peoples award went to Bob Winsch. The keynote address was given by Dr. Paul E. Olsen, Storke Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Columbia University who spoke about Arctic Ice and the Ecological Rise of Dinosaurs.

2017 Geological Society of Connecticut Annual Meeting

GSC members gathered at Yale’s Peabody Museum for our 2017 Annual Dinner Meeting.  The evening started with a reception in the new mineral exhibit, David Friend Hall.  

2017 Geological Society of Connecticut Spring Field Trip

On this field trip, we explored aspects of the paleontology of the early Mesozoic Hartford Basin in central Connecticut and Massachusetts. There were five stops in total, including three museums and two field localities. 

2016 Geological Society of Connecticut Annual Meeting

2016 was the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the dinosaur track site that became Dinosaur Sate Park in Rocky Hill.  The 8th Annual Meeting of the Society, held on Friday November 18th at Wesleyan University, celebrated this fact by welcoming world-renowned vertebrate paleontologist Dr. Robert Bakker for an engaging lecture on Connecticut’s Jurassic geology and its role in the history of the science of paleontology entitled “The Real Jurassic Park is  in the Connecticut Valley.”  Ahead of the lecture, attendees enjoyed student poster displays and dinner while society business was completed. In addition, a successful scholarship fundraising event including wine-tasting and meet-&-greet with Dr. Bakker was held before the meeting.

2016 Geological Society of Connecticut Summer Field Trip

GSC members and guests explored the geology of the lower Connecticut River valley from Middletown to Lyme on Saturday June 11. Stops focused on the pre-glacial carving of the valley, partial filling of the valley with glacial and meltwater deposits, and the lithology and structure of the surrounding bedrock units. Trip leaders: Janet Radway Stone, Ralph S. Lewis, and Phil Resor.

2015 Geological Society of Connecticut Annual Meeting

GSC members gathered at Central Connecticut State University for an evening of geology and collegiality on Friday, November 13, 2015.  The evening began with an open house (including a planetarium show!) at the CCSU Department of Geological Sciences in Copernicus Hall. The annual meeting included a display of student posters, a fiesta dinner, a discussion of meeting business, and a lecture from Dr. Charles Merguerian (Duke Geological Laboratory, Professor Emeritus - Hofstra University, Research Fellow -Yale University). The lecture was entitled "Wallrocks of the Hodges Complex and Tyler Lake Granite, West Torrington, CT".
June 5-7, 2015 Friends of the Pleistocene Field Trip was a hit!
The Geological Society of Connecticut and the Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey co-sponsored the 78th Annual Reunion of the Friends of the Pleistocene field trip head-quartered in Rocky Hill, Connecticut at Dinosaur State Park. The fieldtrip “Glacial Lake Hitchcock and the Sea” was led by Janet Stone, Jack Ridge, Ralph Lewis, and Mary DiGiacomo-Cohen.
2015 Spring Field Trip - The Coastal Geology of Eastern Connecticut: Bluff Point, Groton, CT to Meigs Point, Madison, CT.
WHEN: Saturday April 25, 2015
WHERE: University of Connecticut - Avery Point Campus, Groton
TRIP LEADER: Ralph Lewis, GSC president.
2014 6th Annual GSC Fall Meeting, Friday November 14
Held at the University of Connecticut, our most well attended meeting to date! Featured speaker, Dr. Gary Robbins, University of Connecticut, gave a great talk entitled, "Connecticut's Groundwater: The Gold Beneath our Feet.      
2014 Spring Field Trip - April 2014
Metamorphic rocks of Western Connecticut
2013 Spring Field Trip - Saturday April 20, 2013 
Another rousing success for the GSC and our trip leader Janet Stone of the USGS!  More than 75 participants, including many students from Eastern and Central Connecticut State University, learned about the Glacial Geology of Central Connecticut and the exciting research Janet and the USGS are conducting in Connecticut. More than 30 participants attended the post trip BBQ at Dinosaur State Park where great burgers, dogs, veggie items, and refreshments were served and the conversations about Connecticut geology continued until sunset.  Thanks to Janet and all the trip organizers and participants everyone had a great day!
2012 4th Annual GSC Fall Meeting, Friday November 16 
Held at the Dept. of Environmental Earth Sciences, Eastern Connecticut State University,this was one of our most successful meetings!  Thanks to EastConn-DEES and our members for your support and enthusiasm.  Our featured speaker, Janet Stone, USGS, gave a great talk on the Glacial Geology of Connecticut.  More than 75 attended and everyone had a great time!    

2012 Spring Field Trip, Saturday June 23
More than 25 GSC members and guests visited some of the premier vineyards in Connecticut.  We learned about the soils and geology and had the opportunity to sample the fine wines!
3rd Annual Fall Meeting Friday Nov 4, 2011 
Kline Geology Laboratories  Yale University
Speaker: Derek Briggs
The 2nd Annual Spring Field Trip, Saturday June 25, 2011
Dr. Robert Wintsch, Indiana University
The Late Paleozoic metamorphic rocks of eastern Connecticut
2nd Annual Meeting October 4th, 2010 
Dr. Robert Wintsch, Indiana University
Deciphering the past from the present: The Late Paleozoic tectonic evolution of eastern New England revealed in the metamorphic rocks of eastern Connecticut.
1st Spring Field Trip Saturday May 1, 2010
Traprock, Tracks, and Brownstone: The geology, paleontology, and history of world-class sites in the Connecticut Valley.
Trip leaders: Anthony Philpotts, Peter M. LeTourneau, Nicholas McDonald, Mike Meehan, and special guests.
Inaugural Meeting of the GSC Monday November 9, 2009
The inaugural meeting of the Geological Society of Connecticut was held Monday November 9, 2009, at Dinosaur state park in Rocky Hill
Featured Speakers:
Tony Philpotts, University of Connecticut
    The Holyoke Basalt -- one of the world's most voluminous eruptions: Implications about the source and differentiation of basaltic magma.
Nicholas G. McDonald, Westminster School and Wesleyan University
    Window into the Jurassic World: Fossils of the Central Valley of Connecticut
Peter M. LeTourneau, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
    Blowing in the Jurassic wind: New discoveries of high-permeability sandstones in Connecticut